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mikelink45

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Everything posted by mikelink45

  1. mikelink45
    I watch Shaun Anderson pitch today. If a very fast ball does not go into the strike zone it does not really make any difference. Let me introduce one of my favorites - Stu Miller - "“He’s got three speeds of pitches – slow, slower and reverse,” the sportswriter Jim Murray said.2 Murray described Miller’s signature changeup as a moth flitting across the plate; others called it a butterfly.: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/stu-miller/ SUMMARY Career WAR 27.0 W 105 L 103 ERA 3.24 G 704 SV 153 IP 1693.1 SO 1164 WHIP 1.253 It is not just fast that counts - deception is important. Hoyt Wilhelm threw a knuckleball and won 148 games which might not sound great except he was a relief pitcher. With a .2.52 era and 46.8 WAR he was a HOFer. If everyone is throwing gas the batters adjust.
  2. mikelink45
    In today's spring training game Astudillo was at 3B and Gordon at SS. If you saw them standing side by side you had to laugh (I did). No sport has room for such diversity of body type.
  3. mikelink45
    Nice to have some power bats, but the article today on Simmons demonstrates the tool these guys lack. And we will be very crowded at 1B in the future.
  4. mikelink45
    I loved the video - wow. But of course the injuries are an issue. Now we have to worry about 3B and SS breaking down. If they don't they are all world, if they both go down we have a real problem. The mental issue is something that might be more serious. I hope we have the support he needs.
  5. mikelink45
    No. I see Waddell as a better option.
  6. mikelink45
    How about a five man rotation with an alternating Happ and Dobnak for the first two rounds. Then we can settle in to whatever the team decides. In fact if the articles in TD are accurate it might be Thorpe and Happ.
  7. mikelink45
    This is a good day to give Kepler a little extra attention - today was the discovery of the third law of Planetary Motion by Johannes Kepler. Maybe they are related and Max will discover the third strike of batting success.
  8. mikelink45
    I have been disappointed by Max for a couple years. I had hoped he would move up and make that transition to a star player, now I want him to be a good player. With the rookies rising something needs to happen this year.
  9. mikelink45
    I am afraid injury prone is not affixed - it is earned and it is unfortunate. A lot of players have had careers fall short because their bodies did not hold up. It is not a put down, but the team does need to think about how to protect its investment. I loved Arraez at second - not so much at third. But we have a weak back up to this position at all levels.
  10. mikelink45
    I think it will change over the year with Rogers getting the first shot, but I bet on Colome
  11. mikelink45
    For the TWINS he is more than mid rotation. We need him. Maeda has had one short season year where he looked great, Berrios has given us a number of good and steady years. We are not going to sign a Bauer or Cole or any other true number one and we do not need to. The pitchers are not the reason we have not won in post season. Home grown talent is the most important and to let Berrios go would be a big mistake. I hope next year it is Maeda, Berrios, Duran, Balazovic, and ???
  12. mikelink45
    No - I went out of the way to make a point. When I look around MLB right now I am seeing a trend towards younger, less experienced players getting promoted and starting. Celestino may not be a star, but I am not afraid to see him in the majors.
  13. mikelink45
    Max is obviously a nice guy or this site would not over rate him every year.
  14. mikelink45
    Why? Did Ken Griffey need that? Acuna and Soto seemed to do well as young inexperienced players. Sometimes the goods ones are just ready.
  15. mikelink45
    Not everyone needs 1000 ABs in the minors. I remember a guy named Griffey who did pretty well with no minor league experience.
  16. mikelink45
    I think that the top six could/should be lead-off - Arraez(the question is, when he is in who is out). So a lineup has to be fluid if your leadoff hitter (best hitter) is on the bench at least 25% of the time - maybe a third. So to fill out the imaginary lineup that you want to send to Rocco I have to go with the starters: Polanco (if he is healed completely) Donaldson Cruz Kepler (I am not his fan, but no one else fits here) Garver/Jeffers Sano (Too many Ks, too many holes in his swing to have him above this to kill rallies) Now the interesting discussion to me is the bottom third. Simmons, Buxton, Kiriloff or Cave or Rooker depending on LF. I think Buxton has earned the 9th spot. He is the proverbial second leadoff batter and his speed fits between Polanco and Simmons. Don't kill speed with slow batters ahead of them. That puts the LF batting seventh.
  17. mikelink45
    I have been pushing my idea that if Buxton goes down I want Celestino in CF no matter what offense he brings. Kepler and Cave were fill ins but I do not want to see them in CF again if Buxton has another extended period where he cannot play. I really like the idea of contact batters, speed, and defense. Of course in the playoff losses what we have missed is runs. I am not sure how that gets addressed, but contact is one of them, speed is another. When you look at the big power guys like Sano who is 2 for 19 in the playoffs it is easy to see that the best pitching will shut them down. I remember Canseco and McGwire with all their power looking terrible in the WS. Then there was KC who won their last WS with speed, defense, contact, and pitching. We are getting to the place where we can match that formula and add in power.
  18. mikelink45
    What a great post - such pertinent information.
  19. mikelink45
    I would love to see Sano turn the corner. His story is getting old and so is he, we have now seen him in MLB for six years. A good amount of time, he should be coming to his physical (and mental) peak years. He has 7.9 WAR in those six years which makes him more than a replacement player, but not a star. I am sorry that we have exit velocity and make such a big deal about it. Sano can hit HRs with less than maximum bat velocity and maybe control his swing better. He has 834 Ks in 539 games which for an old man like me is atrocious. He and Buxton remain the poster boys for hoped for greatness. - time to rip up the posters and take the crown.
  20. mikelink45
    The biggest puzzle in the Odorizzi saga is the Los Angeles Angels. With a strong lineup and defense they have failed to make the playoffs for years because of pitching, but have done almost nothing in FA signings to fix this. Odorizzi is an instant upgrade and yet they sit back. Beyond Ohtani they have Heaney, Cobb, Quintana, Canning and Bundy. Odorizzi would be number 2 or 3 in that rotation.
  21. mikelink45
    He has not shown anything at any level and unlike Dozier he has a full and really good roster ahead of him. I think he is a trade throw in.
  22. mikelink45
    We do not make it on the national list. Our team is no longer young and we do not bring up the players when they are really young so Acuna, Soto, Tatis, Luis Roberts, Eloy Jiminex, Bichette and others rank over our prospects because they have already shown themselves in the majors. Using that as the measuring stick Arraez and Jeffers have to be first and second. I wish we did let SP work into the rotation earlier, but that does not seem to be the plan. I was hoping to find more under 25s in the BP but was surprised that Alcala and Stashak are both over the mark so we currently have only two under 25s and hopefully Kiriloff will make number 3. As I was looking at the stats I was surprised that the Twins are as old as their numbers say - the rotation now has 26 year old Berrios and next youngest is 32 year old Pineda and Happ is 38. In the BP Alcala 25 1/2 is youngest and Thielbar at 34 is oldest. In the IF Jeffers is youngest and Donalson is 34. In the OF if Kiriloff starts he is the youngest at 23, Buxton is 27, Kepler 28.
  23. mikelink45
    I hope Garver comes back strong. I still do not understand what happened to him last year and how it gets fixed. I am very happy to have Jeffers on board.
  24. mikelink45
    I do not want Celestino to start the season - I want him if Byron takes another extended injury vacation. I am not excited about Broxton, he is not our future. Celestino gives us defense and most of the value of Buxton has been defense. His WAR todate is 6.4 offense and 6.6 defense (BR) - give me Celestinos defense.
  25. mikelink45
    I really had to laugh when you said "The only hit Twins starter Devin Smeltzer gave up over his two innings was a solo homer." That is faint praise. The real story is Astudillo at 3B, This could go a long ways towards giving him a roster spot.
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